Travis Hunter Leads All Rookies With Impressive Initial Madden 26 Rating

Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Travis Hunter is the highest rated rookie in Madden 26.
Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Travis Hunter is the highest rated rookie in Madden 26. / Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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With the release of EA Sports' Madden 26 just around the corner, the video game company released its first look at some player ratings for the new edition of the game.

Having already revealed the select group of players who were in the distinguished "99 Club," Madden offered a glimpse into the ratings of the newest players in the game; the 2025 NFL rookie class.

Leading the way with an overall rating of 84 is defensive back/wide receiver Travis Hunter, who was selected with the No. 2 pick by the Jaguars. Behind him is Raiders rookie running back Ashton Jeanty at 83 overall. Only two other players, Giants EDGE rusher Abdul Carter (81) and Browns DT Mason Graham (80) have overalls of 80 or more.

Here's a look at the full top 10:

Notably, Titans quarterback and No. 1 pick Cam Ward was not listed among the top 10 rookies in the game. His overall was later revealed to be 72, which is low for a top pick that figures to start in Week 1. Despite being picked one selection after Ward, Hunter has an initial rating that's 12 points higher than the former Miami Hurricanes quarterback.

Still, Ward had the highest rating among any quarterback in the class of 2025, coming in ahead of Jaxon Dart (68), Tyler Shough (68), Shedeur Sanders (67) and Dillon Gabriel (66).

These ratings will change based on the performance of players throughout the season, but heading into the preseason, Madden has revealed how highly, or lowly, it rates the members of this year's rookie class.


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Karl Rasmussen
KARL RASMUSSEN

Karl Rasmussen is a staff writer for the Breaking and Trending News team for Sports Illustrated. A University of Oregon alum who joined SI in February 2023, his work has appeared on 12up and ClutchPoints. Rasmussen is a loyal Tottenham, Jets, Yankees and Ducks fan.